Goldberg

[3.0] "In terms of talent and ability, approaching Ultimate Moron levels as the most overpushed in modern history. He simply could barely wrestle and failed the first requirement as a pro. That applies to anyone paid to participate in wrestling, like the Hippocratic oath. Do no harm. As Bret Hart said, he hurt everyone he was in there with. Disliked him in WCW, and he was better there than anything he ever did in WWE. 100% a hype job and can consider himself very fortunate considering he was crap at the day job."

[8.0] "If you weren't there then you don't know. He was MASSIVE in the late 90s, and there's no denying that. Goldberg's WCW run was one of the most incredible rises in wrestling history. He went from a relatively unknown wrestler to an unstoppable main event star."

[7.0] "Goldberg was absolutely a case of "you had to be there". He was in the pop culture zeitgeist in 1998 and was a star that was an equal to Steve Austin. He obviously wasn't the smoothest wrestler and had very few actual great matches. His single greatest match to me is Halloween Havoc 1998 against DDP. He had the type of aura and charisma you're either born with or you're not."

[1.0] "Goldberg was truly one of the worst wrestlers on this planet, he lacked the fundamental basic understanding of how the wrestling business works and so fell far behind the line. 85% of goldberg matches were spear, spear, spear, jackhammer, 1, 2 3 and done. completely boring stuff. He didn't have the look of a superstar, he was subpar on the mic and he never really had any character. An awful awful wrestler. 1"

[3.0] "3 is a the perfect rating for Goldberg. In fact it's what happens when you ask someone who's never lived the hype of Goldberg to rate him. He is not good in matches, he is not good in mic work, and his last matches in WWE were all and without exceptions god awful. Good wrestlers can't even save his matches. He is the typical example of a Attitude Era wrestler who's not grown past since. I forgot to add that his streak of undefeated matches we give him credits for, is not even relevant since Asuka literally tripled his record."

[9.0] "Goldberg was one of the biggest stars in wrestling. He has never been anyone like WCW Bill Goldberg, and sadly WWE was never able to replicate that greatness but I thoroughly enjoy his WWE run 2003-2004. Then his WWE comeback, it began so well. That feud with Brock Lesnar was great, but after that there was a lot of bad booking with Goldberg. (as there was with the rest of the roster) And now the elephant in the room, the wrestling skills. Goldberg is not the best in-ring wrestler, therfor the one point deduction. 9 points"

[1.0] "Goldberg cannot wrestle, he was an industry plant that got everything handed to him, his match with broke lesnar was insulting, his promos were not good and he was actually unsafe in the ring, the only thing that could redeem him is if he enters a deathmatch tournament... Hey kids, do you want to see a 5 minutes match where a guy barely sells and then runs at another guy with a spear and/or jackhammer, because that is the only thing you will get, no bumps, no story, nmo promos, no crowd work, nothing"

[7.0] "Aura matters, and Goldberg had it. That match against Hogan may remain the peak of WCW Nitro programming. He was presented as an undeniable force, until he wasn't. He was stiff, his matches incredibly short, and he is not someone a modern audience would see much positive in. He is not one of the best performers ever, his promos aren't anything special even if I find them to be electric enough, he isn't some sort of complete package but, as is said in The Big Lebowski, sometimes there's a man, sometimes there's a man. sometimes..... His return runs honestly sucked a lot, and were damaging to his career I would say. His final match most recently was a decent surprise however, and I quite enjoyed the match even if the Oldberg character could have been laid to pasture years ago."

[5.0] "I get it he is very bad in the ring. But he has what most wrestler lack intimidation and believable . He was book great by wcw(atleast before the screwness of Russo )."

[3.0] "I watched Goldberg in his prime and while I do understand the hype, I always saw him as just a FAR inferior version of the GOAT, Stone Cold Steve Austin. Goldberg never once had a compelling storyline or match in my eyes. Squashes are cool but 90% of his squashes were the exact same. Terrible talker on the mic and just about any lengthy match he had against top stars was awful. And that's not to mention both of his dreadful runs in WWE. I'm a fan of guys like Big Show and Kane, I don't need 'workrate' to be happy, but Goldberg wasn't supplying anything to keep me entertained."

[9.0] "A lot of his matches on the matchguide are understandably rated low because he is not a 5+ minute match wrestler (usually), he is a 5 or less minute squash match wrestler who destroys people and he's the best at it. He was able to maintain this mystique but had really interesting matches whenever opponents like DDP or Regal are able to creatively get around his brute force and target his weaknesses. With as little knowledge and experience as he had, he understands his role in a very impressive way. If I were to rank wrestlers based on how much of a dopamine rush their matches give me, Goldberg would maybe be number one"

[9.0] "You can "he can't wrestle" all day long but that's his character he's an A$$ kicking machine not a 5 star 30 minute masterclass worker. He's there to run through somebody and that's okay to have! There was nobody hotter in 97/98 than Goldberg in WCW and I loved it!"

[10.0] "The amount of failed imitations of Goldberg tells you that this guy one of the best workers of all time. Less is more in this business. Bill Goldberg's intensity and power cannot be understated. Top 10 worker of all time"

[8.0] "One of the most over and biggest draws of his era. Goldberg had one of the greatest overall presentations in wrestling history. The whole package just worked perfectly for the time period. WCW absolutely caught lightning in a bottle with him in and he helped keep the company hot in 1998 even while a lot of bad decisions were happening around him. Goldberg was never going to be a strong technical wrestler or some workrate machine. He was not a very good wrestler at all. The key with Goldberg was always working around his limitations. Keep the matches short, explosive, intense, and centered around the aura. When they did that, it worked incredibly well. He was basically a one trick pony in the ring, but it was a very successful trick. His first WWE run was pretty average overall. It was difficult to fully build around him when he only signed a one year deal and clearly was not sticking around long term. His 2016 return was handled perfectly. The Brock Lesnar feud was awesome and they used Goldberg exactly how they should have. Quick destruction, huge reactions, simple booking. That formula still worked. The problem came later when WWE kept bringing him back over and over. He really didn't have it anymore and the matches were awful. Regardless, Goldberg is one of the best examples of how charisma, aura, presentation, and booking can outweigh in-ring skill in professional wrestling. He had major flaws, but he was also a massive success."

"Dude has a really cool presentation and entrance and a good match with brock at Wrestlemaina 33.Thats where the good ends he was a one trick pony disguised as a wrestler if we were honest. Not to mention all the backstage chaos he raised that led to the death of WCW"

[1.0] "The worst wrestler ever, pushed to the moon for years and was never capable of taking care of his partners or actually doing a single good match, he was over yeah... in wcw... the joke tells itself, and his second part time run burying wwe wrestlers and giving terrible performances was horrible, why in the world this useless trash won world tittles that late in his career he almost killed the Undertaker for f sake, i only give him 1 point because i only gave 0 to actual criminals."

[5.0] "Rating Goldberg is like rating a UFC match for the quality of the storytelling, you really can't do it. He has a niche, when its good, its GOOD. When its shit, ITS SHIT."

[4.0] "A one-trick pony, but what a trick. Goldberg was never the most graceful in the ring, but he was one of the most charismatic, awe-inspiring wrestlers of all-time, with a simple formula that worked over and over. He could have good matches under the right circumstances, but that was never his job. Certainly he was limited, both as an in-ring performer and even on the mic where he never felt at ease, but can't fault a guy for doing his part well (most of the time anyway)."

[3.0] "Yeah, at one point he was one of the biggest draws in wrestling but honestly, he always felt like a one-trick pony, well, two actually. So many of his matches are under 10 minutes and its most of his offence is just his finishers."

[7.0] "From a Business perspective, Goldberg at one point in time was the biggest draw in the wrestling world. He might very well be the best ever in terms of a ratio having as much appeal as he did, with the least amount of actual in ring talent. He was rushed in to the business and never really tried to get better at any point on the mic or in the ring. But his presentation and in particular his in ring aggression were just off the charts. In many ways he was booked like a monster heel the way they would be booked in the 70's and 80's, just running over people like it was nothing, but as a face. Given how pigeonholed his booking had to be and how his image had to be kept so high, it was pretty unsustainable in the long run since you can't beat everyone forever. This led to fans growing tired over time, especially during the later part of his run in the 2010's and 2020's. But one thing is for certain and that's how when he's fresh, and able to be that unstoppable monster, he is one of the biggest draws you could ask for. The magic in a bottle that was his first run in WCW scaling up to beating Hogan and extending the ratings win WCW had over WWE had so many tickets getting sold they sold out an episode of Nitro in a stadium for him. Despite it being almost 20 years later, even when he first came back to fight Lesnar and just ran over him that was fresh and exciting at the time, it would ruin itself however with him just eating younger talent along the way. At the end of the day, when it comes to aura at his peak, he defines what it means to have the rocket strapped to you and just hitting it out of the park. People still remember and care about him enough for him to be a draw 25 years past his first run."

[8.0] "One of the greatest wrestlers in history, whose charisma, size, as well as a rich arsenal of techniques from hundreds of kick variations and throws, made him a real killing machine. Although, I didn't like his run in the WWE, they used him quite strangely when Goldberg fought wrestlers for 5 minutes, whom he would destroy in 30 seconds in WCW. Nevertheless, I consider his trick to be one of the most successful in history of wrestling, which he sold one hundred percent."

[2.0] "Awful at pro wrestling. 100% all hype. That's all he ever was. He never cared enough about the art form to get good at it. Maybe the most overrated pro wrestler on this database. Over 6 is wild. I'm being generous with just a score of 2 even. Legendary botches. No mic skills. He was a draw and that's probably why I'm giving him at least 1 point but outside of his drawing ability (which arguably was really the result of propaganda efforts aimed at convincing us he was something he wasn't) he's got nothing. Edit- Change of score of 1 to 2. Further consideration of, at least, the impactful nature of his limited offense warrants an additional point."

[0.0] "If he retired in 2017 he'd probably be a 4 or a 5. I always saw him as overrated but he wasn't THAT bad at the time. But since WrestleMania 33 he's done nothing but embarrassing himself and hurting the product. All his matches were botchy and he almost ended his career in a match. He retired far too late but at least that wasn't a disaster. The overexposure of him in 2021 was very very frustrating and it made people think his opponents were bad too. He BURRIED several wrestlers who were red hot and some haven't even been able to regain the strong momentum that they had before working with Goldberg."

[1.0] "Garbage, the literally definition of a garbage wrestler. I've never seen a good Goldberg match in my whole life. I've only seen the worst matches he's ever had and the unnecessary burials he's done to people who didn't deserve it. Had 2 god awful world title reigns that meant nothing and only given to him to have a matches that weren't needed or wanted. I just can't stand him and I'll never forgive him for burying The Fiend for no reason"

[1.0] "one of the worst wrestlers to ever exist. he can never really wrestle. He is not a safe worker and has repeatedly shown throughout his career that he is neither reliable nor of good character, considering he is hated by half of the wrestlers of his era and beyond. His matches are deadly boring, he's uninteresting and only knows how to do squash matches. He nearly stopped Bret Hart's career and he even nearly killed the Undertaker in the ring. He ruined the great reigns of many wrestlers like Kevin Owens and The Fiend, and for what? It's done nothing for wrestling in general."

[8.0] "Great wrestler when used properly. He wasn't meant to be a talker or have long matches and when they deviate from the formula it's not successful for him. Always seemed a legit MMA style pro wrestler with a fantastic WCW entrance. All the naysayers missed the point but I'm sure he'll never mind. I certainly don't."

[3.0] "A man who couldn't wrestle. Was he able to cast an intimidating presence and get over? Yes. Did I groan whenever he appeared on the screen at any point of his career outside of a bried period in the early 2000s? Yes."

[6.0] "Goldberg in my opinion is an all time great as an entertainer, but not as a technical wrestler. He was the best example you can get of an invincible powerhouse, and he was extremely over in WCW. His spear was one of the greatest ever and his Jackhammer always looked incredible. He delivered his grapples with real force and had the look, presence, and intensity of a legit monster. I do not think he should have returned to WWE after his first run, because the constant losses hurt his aura. Sometimes it is better to let legends retire on top. He also had a reputation for being unsafe, and the fact that he ended Bret Hart's career shows that he needed more refinement. Even with those flaws, as an overall act, he was unforgettable."

[8.0] "It's funny, I was never a fan of Goldberg as a kid, and I actually really disliked him during my teen years (I was obsessed with Puro and workrate at the time), so I've only just come around to appreciating him now. Goldberg was limited as a worker, but he excelled in short squash matches and found a way to turn them into an attraction. To use a musical analogy, if Ric Flair is the wrestling equivalent of Progressive Rock, then Goldberg's matches are the wrestling equivalent of Punk Rock: Short, aggressive, and straight to the point. Goldberg had an aura about him, a real presence to him. He was exceptional at using facial expressions and mannerisms to get his character over, and there's never a moment where he's not performing. Even when his opponent has him in a chinlock, he's still very animated, doing things like growling or snarling, looking like a beast trapped in a cage. He was good at selling while also looking like an invincible superman, which is not an easy task because it seems so contradictory. More than anything, Goldberg was fantastic at busting out power moves and performing them with an extra emphasis of intensity that added a little 'oomph' to them. I believe he also invented the Spear, which is something people never give him credit for, but it's actually pretty impressive that he came up with a move that has been used by so many wrestlers since."

[3.0] "Goldberg was truly an awful wrestler that was reckless. Never a memorable match & it's gotten to the point where ppl have been fooled into thinking he was ever good, he couldn't cut a good promo either."

[3.0] "He's dangerous for any wrestler he face probably he will hurt you and we all know he can't give a 10+ minutes match because he's not a good performer I don't think he reach a 4 star match in he's career and I say for because thinks to Brock how carry a match with bill in Mania 33"

[3.0] "Goldberg is someone as a kid I liked but as I get older, I despise him more. He never had any passion for the business nor did he ever seem to care about it which was obvious knowing about his reputation. He was totally reckless in the ring and his stamina was beyond terrible. While he had an impressive look, its the only thing that ever got him to the success he had. Without that, there is nothing redeeming about him. His in ring skills were brutal and his mic work wasnt anything special. He never seemed to take the business seriously and all he ever cared about making look good was himself while hurting everyone else."

[3.0] "Short matches, lazy work, getting undeserved pushes, very dangerous to work with, even his charisma is not there anymore. just a one trick pony who lives on a push he got in the ninties and ruining wrestling for those who really like it. bad retirement match as well ... WHAT DID THEY DO WITH MY BOY WALTER?"

[5.0] "Bill Goldberg is an anomaly in professional wrestling. Just looking at him, he's perfect for this industry. He has a great look and comes across very intimidating. But... he just can't wrestle. Some of the very best wrestlers ever have had matches against Goldberg, but they have always been bang average at best. His best work were the 4-5 minute matches WWE put him in after his return in 2016, which isn't exactly a great sign that somebody is a good worker. The Bret Hart stuff gets blown out of proportion in my opinion. I don't want to make this an entire comment about that incident with Bret, but accidents happen in wrestling and I don't think for one minute Goldberg would actually intentionally go out of his way to hurt Bret or anybody in-ring. He has just always been very clumsy and way too intense in-ring for his own good. Anyway, had a great career all things considered but just couldn't actually wrestle to save his life. Have to give him a 5/10 simply because he had a good career."

[6.0] ""The Streak" in 1998 was a big deal for WCW. Unfortunately, Goldberg wasn't over enough to sustain even one loss. Outside of looking into the camera and screaming, "Who's next? ", he was kind of a musclehead with no charisma. On his first loss, you can hear the fans pop when he gets hit with a taser from the heel Scott Hall and after he is power bombed by Kevin Nash there is a very loud "1-2-3" count from the fans...so as much as WCW invested in him, he just wasn't over with the fans. That's not the kind of reaction you hope to get from the fans when the guy you want to be your #1 babyface loses. Goldberg was also a mark who seemed to think pro wrestling was real. His adrenaline was pumping so much that he wound up hurting himself, or other wrestlers during his matches. I don't want to even get into the Bret Hart situation, but he almost also broke Undertaker's neck. Overall, is there really a difference between the Warlord and Goldberg besides the push?"

[1.0] "I am sorry, he can never really wrestle imo. He is unsafe and terrible to watch and ungrateful af. I wasn't really watching vintage era of wrestling, but his run since 2016 caused lots of huge damages to the product, burying Kevin Owens and Bray Wyatt's great run as Universal Champion, having some of the worst matches with The Undertaker and Bobby Lashley. I am glad he has been totally retired for good."

[2.0] "Goldberg was never a great wrestler. He was a product, plain and simple. WCW built him to be a mindless wrecking machine, and he crashed onto the scene with squash matches, loud grunts, and the same two moves over and over. Somehow, that was enough to win people over for a while. But behind the hype was a painfully limited performer. He had no versatility, couldn't cut a promo, and wrestled with a reckless style that injured more talented wrestlers than it helped. He never improved. No growth, no depth, just the same tired "monster" act shoved in fans' faces for years. And WWE kept bringing him back, letting him flatten stars like Kevin Owens and The Fiend just to chase nostalgia. Goldberg didn't lift wrestling up. He held it back. His career was built on image and mystique, not real substance. And when the shine wore off, there was nothing underneath. Just a shallow act that never earned the spot it was given. One of the most overhyped careers in wrestling history."

[6.0] "Goldberg in his 1997 to 99 prime was undeniably one of the best in the world. His first WWE run was mishandled, and his second run was up and down. While he was never a good "wrestler", he was a draw and when in there with the right opponent, was capable of a hellavu entertaining match. Good luck on your retirement, Goldberg."

[5.0] "At his peak in WCW Goldberg was incredibly over and his aura was undeniable, despite his limited in-ring ability. I watched WCW in the mid-to-late 90s, mostly on a German sports channel on Sky because it wasn't available in the UK. His arrival made WCW exciting again after the nWo stuff became bloated. He was booked like a destroyer and was capable of the odd decent match throughout his career but he should have retired after his 2017 meeting with Brock Lesnar. After this his matches have largely absolutely stunk the place out. You can't blame him for taking the easy pay days when offered though. Ending Bert Hart's career was an accident, but it just serves to highlight how sloppy and dangerous he could be. His comments about wrestling his final match in Israel also raise questions about his morals, but that's another story. Having Goldberg wrestle again in 2025 (along with some other questionable booking decisions) has driven home to many fans that Triple H/TKO really only care about money, continuing to sacrifice the overall quality of the in-ring product for short term financial gain."

[0.0] "Simply one of the worst wrestlers to ever exist on the face of the planet Earth. Not only is he an embarrassing in-ring worker, but he has won ten times what he actually deserved. If I think that when he was dominating there were wrestlers of the caliber of Bret Hart, Diamond Dallas Page, and William Regal, it almost sends shivers down my spine. He is not a safe worker and has repeatedly shown throughout his career that he is neither reliable nor of good character, considering he is hated by half of the wrestlers of his era and beyond. I am almost grateful that he came out of retirement in 2016, so everyone could realize how terrible he is at wrestling. Just look at the average ratings on this site; they (rightfully) dropped drastically when he returned before Survivor Series 2016."

[3.0] "Absolute snoozefest after the year 2001, doesnt care about wrestling at all, only comes back when theres something that wrestling can give him. They gave Kurt Angle Baron Corbin for his retirement & frankly I would rather not see Goldberg in a ring ever again. Doesnt deserve the $, doesnt deserve the pop, & doesnt deserve the send off. I dont care, he made a living being shit at wrestling & hurting dudes. Send him to the pasture"

[6.0] "On his prime he got such a big aura of a real badass and undefeated unbreakable man. When he lost, he did it not by clear way, Kevin Nash cheated to beat him and that was real deal, but now... He's old and can't do it that good as he was, but WWE brings him back and put him in the spot where he shouldn't be, the spot of younger and talented superstars, that what I hate about seeing Goldberg. He's not bad at mic btw"

[3.0] "Great entrance, great look (back in the day, not in his various comebacks), then the bell rings and it all goes to shit. His streak helped WCW stay hot when the booking and has-beens at the top of the card were doing their best to cool it off so you have to give him credit for carrying his part in that, but just not good at wrestling and never gave the impression that he cared about it beyond a payday either."

[2.0] "An impressive specimen of physical stature and presentation, but Goldberg is one of the most default and generic wrestlers I have ever come across. We are talking about a man that CANNOT have long matches, sure his set of moves is always something to behold but unless there is proper narrative build up it's basically impossible for him to have a good match. Also responsible for Bret Hart's early retirement and burial of The Fiend. I have never enjoyed a Goldberg showcase, and don't tend to indulge myself in any other historic squashes of his."

[4.0] "Goldberg is a weird case for me. I do get excited whenever he makes an entrance and I also understand that he is popular among fans but lets just face it, he ain't really that good. William Regal did the world a big favor when he exposed Goldberg's wrestling ability. He got even worse in WWE. It is frustrating to see him get automatic title shots without earning them. You can clearly see that he doesn't really care much about the wrestling business and sees it as a payday more than anything. On top of that, very average on the mic. I will admit that Goldberg's squashes can be fun and exciting sometimes but think about the other workers as well. I will give him points for that undefeated title streak in WCW which cemented him as a top star of the company."

[3.0] "Probably the biggest case of hype and aura moments. Goldberg obviously was important for wrestling, as his fame resonates to this day, and if you never popped (even a little) to a single match of him (when he still had energy to wrestle), then you are the most boring person ever. Regardless, that's the ceiling for Goldberg. Without the crowd he's just a terrible wrestler, who only is capable of doing a handful of moves, not selling much, being bad at promos, and being stiff. He's a hype machine, because the booking actually was capable of make him be taken seriously as a wrestler, but still a product of the era, as someone who couldn't last long in a match to save his life (either because he would just injure someone or because he ran out of breath) and lacked in almost every single aspect would never prosper in the present day. Obviously that his return to wrestling was catastrophic, as he participated in some of the most pathetic, braindead and uninteresting matches of all time, getting shots that he wasn't capable of delivering even 1% of what should be expected of him. Have he just retired maybe his career would be better, but a 50y old having dreadful squash matches that no one ask or could care just ruin a lot you know. At least, compared to other hype and aura wrestlers, the guy could make something out of nothing. The way he says "You're next! " is cool also."

[6.0] "Mixed feelings about Goldberg. He probably had the single most spectacular year of any pro wrestler in history (1998), and when the crowd is behind him it really feels for a fleeting moment like he's the best thing that's ever happened to the business. But once you look beyond the smoke and mirrors, Goldberg is a poorly trained non-wrestler that was fortuitous enough to stumble upon booking so ironclad that he never needed to genuinely improve. All of his shortcomings can be summarized with Starrcade 1999; a pisspoor match in which he ended a legend's career over a tenuous feud that he wasn't actually interesting enough to make emotionally or physically engaging to begin with. I think he's the best case scenario for what an "invincible" wrestler can become, certainly preferable to the likes of bombastic and unintriguing garbage like Warrior or Hogan, but ultimately he does embody all of the typical issues that are inextricably attached to this archetype."

[8.0] "Bill Goldberg is one of my favorite wrestling personalities. Aside from being one of the few instances where WCW successfully builds a home-grown star, Goldberg is built to be virtually indestructible. He is the wrestling ring's equivalent of Captain America or the Terminator. Hopefully he gets a decent retirement match in 2025, if not the following year!"

"Just a guy with a good look and a huge constant push. Nothing but a win streak. Injured so many. No promo skill at all. Just nothing redeeming here at all. The only positive thing you can say about Bill Goldberg is he was a draw and had a kind of cool entrance. Outside of that. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Only way I disagree with ItsLuger below is just injuring Bret did more harm to the industry than he could have ever contributed, so him existing is actually a net negative for pro wrestling. It would have been a better industry without him. Just shows what can happen in pro wrestling with the right push. Like an experiment gone wrong, how can we push the worst wrestler we can find as hard as we possibly can?"

[0.0] "Goldberg was not good at anything relating to the artform of professional wrestling and as was an anchor to every person he worked with, having to adapt to being in the ring with a literal doofus of a performer. Either injuring the other wrestler or himself, wrestling Goldberg was a coin flip, when no one was hurt it was because the match was less than 7 minutes long. Everyone knew what this guy is, someone who cannot work at all produces low quality content in terms of promos and character work, and so they had to book around the fact that he is so atrocious at everything relevant to professional wrestling. Sure, he was and probably still is a draw, and in WCW he was hugely over in ways people can only dream of. That says nothing about quality though, nor his impact on the overall landscape and art of wrestling, nothing would have changed if he never existed."